MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Putin meets the Pope and visits his populist coalition friends in Rome

Pope Francis and Pte. Putin met nearly an hour of closed-door talks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a lightning visit to Rome on Thursday, including talks with the pope, hailing efforts by Italy's populist government to ease sanctions despite Moscow's ongoing crisis with the West. Rome's historic centre was on security lockdown for the visit, with 50 streets blocked to traffic.

Putin landed around an hour late at Fiumicino airport and his convoy drove into Rome and the Vatican City where he met the pope for nearly an hour of closed-door talks.

Putin has arrived late for all three of their encounters, the last of which was in 2015 when the pope urged all parties to the conflict in Ukraine to make a “sincere effort” for peace.

Thursday's meeting came a day before the pope receives leaders of Ukraine's Greek Catholic Church.

Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine are mostly Russian Orthdodox, while those they fight are Orthodox and Greek Catholic.

Francis first met Putin in 2013, as the Roman Catholic Church sought to improve ties with the Russian Orthodox Church.

Only in 2009 did the Vatican and Moscow re-establish full diplomatic ties which were severed during Soviet times.

Relations have improved since the coming to power in the same year of Patriarch Kirill, who headed up the Russian Orthodox Church's diplomatic arm for years.

The Russian Orthodox Church has frequently accused the Catholic Church of proselytizing in Russia, an Orthodox Christian country of 144 million.

The pope in 2016 held a historic meeting with Kirill in Cuba, the first encounter between the heads of the two largest Christian churches since Christianity split into Western and Eastern branches in the 11th Century - an event known as “The Great Schism.”

Kremlin advisor Yuri Ushakov said on Wednesday that “for the time being a possible invitation for the pope to visit Russia is not on the agenda.”

The pope and Putin were to discuss matters including “preserving Christian holy sites in Syria”, the Kremlin said.

After meeting the pope, Putin had lunch with President Sergio Mattarella before heading into talks with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

Putin was driven around in his six-meter-long armored limo by a chauffeur who has been practicing negotiating his way around the Eternal City's narrow streets. His talks with Italian leaders should be easier.

Far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini has often expressed admiration for Putin, and his coalition government advocates reviewing EU sanctions against Russia.

“We appreciate Italy's aspiration to completely re-establish relations between Russia and the European Union,” Putin told a joint conference with Conte.

“We see Italian government efforts in this direction, and we appreciate them,” the Russian leader added.

The US and EU have progressively imposed sanctions on Russia since its annexation of Crimea in 2014 and Moscow's involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, including the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17.

Salvini has previously visited Moscow and been pictured in pro-Putin T-shirts.

When his party won most Italian votes in May's European elections, Salvini posted a photo of himself with a picture of Putin in the background.